In the group discussion, we came up with three game story ideas in total and choose one as the final game plot.
The First One(From Chengcheng Jiang)
Gameplay:
Leap motion – Waving is moving the perspective. Making a fist is touching
Keyboard – control up, down, left, right
Computer Screen/VR – Display Screen
The plot goes in two directions: one public-spirited and warm; one suspenseful and brainy
Plot: “Afterglow” – Last Song in the Dark (Public Service Warming)
Keywords: pianist, progressive blindness, love, regret, reconciliation, healing
It’s a story of love and goodbyes. It is a musician who is gradually losing his sight, searching for light in the darkness. It is also a piece of music that is the last piece of music left to a lover in the flow of years.
- Identity of the protagonist: Cheng, 28 years old, a professional pianist known for his keen sense of hearing and excellent musical talent.
His world never thought it would be plunged into darkness until two years ago, when he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa – an incurable eye disease that means he’ll be completely blind within a few years.
At first, he chose to hide it.
Until one day he walked off the stage after a recital, only to almost fall in front of the audience – at that moment he realized that his vision was shrinking and even the faces of the audience had become blurred.
He was afraid of losing the stage, afraid of becoming a burden to others, and most importantly – he was afraid of dragging down his fiancée, Lin Zhiwei.
2. break up – he was afraid that one day he wouldn’t even be able to look at Lin Zhiwei’s face, and even more so, he was afraid of becoming a lifelong bondage to her.
He feigned indifference, pretended to be busy, and was even deliberately absent on her birthday just to make her dead to the relationship.
In the end, he chose to break up, leaving only one sentence behind:
“You deserve better, and I, for one, don’t want to be a burden to you.”
–and then disappeared into her world.
3.After the breakup, he was still in love with her.
After the breakup, Hsieh Hsing-chou retired from giving concerts and switched to teaching composition courses at the Conservatory of Music.
His eyesight is getting worse, he can barely see the road at night and can only perceive the world by sound.
But he still played a tune every day – a tune he had once composed for Lin Zhiwei.
Unfortunately, it never got the chance to play for her again.
4.The wedding
One day, he accidentally learned – Lin Zhiwei was getting married.
Her groom was her childhood friend, a man who took good care of her
That day, Xie Xingzhou sat at the piano in a state of disorientation, his fingertips trembling–
He should have blessed her, but it was as if his heart was clutched hard by something.
He wanted to go and see her one last time, even if his world had grown darker, even if he could no longer see her face.
5.His last song
He decided to apply for a job as a musician at a wedding venue.
He used a pseudonym and was hired by the wedding planning team as a regular pianist.
On the day of the wedding, he sat at the piano in the corner, wearing a simple black suit, his fingertips pressed against the keys.
The hall was bustling, and he heard her voice, light and gentle–
She, she is really happy, isn’t she?
At this point, the master of ceremonies announced the bride’s entrance and it was time for him to play the wedding march.
And yet, in that moment, he slowly – played the tune that had been composed for her.
The notes flowed slowly – a melody she knew well, a memory that belonged to them.
She stopped suddenly.
She shivered slightly and slowly turned her head in the direction of the piano.
6.Conclusion: the afterglow
She recognized him.
He, however, could no longer see her.
The music stopped. The ballroom is silent.
“Is that you?” She asked, choking back a sob.
He smiled, his voice soft, “Congratulations.”
Lin Zhiwei slowly walked up to him and looked at this man she had loved so much with tears in her eyes.
She watched as his bony fingers gently stroked the keys, as if he were sensing the world by touch.
It suddenly dawned on her – he’d never not loved her, he’d just, chosen to let her go.
But eventually, she took a soft step back and looked up and smiled.
“Thank you, rowboat.”
She turned around and continued on to her new life.
Xie Xingzhou sat in front of the piano and listened to the wedding continue, his world had been completely plunged into darkness.
But he doesn’t regret it.
With his last remaining moments, he gave her his own blessing.
(The game ends and the scene is framed in lights, the pianist’s figure elongated as if dissolving into the light.)
Features & Mechanisms
Experience for the Blind
Players take on the role of Xie Xingzhou, who feels the gradual decline of his eyesight and must rely on sound to recognize the world.
Piano Play Play Leap motion
Players need to play the proposal song themselves, and if they play it wrong, the melody will become mutilated, symbolizing Xie Xingzhou’s regret.
Game prototype reference – see
Episode 2: “Echoes” – a suspenseful brain-burning story
1.Protagonist status:
Your name is Cheng, you are 32 years old, a former documentary director who specializes in filming and exposing the dark side of the city with his camera.
Three months ago, your world was plunged into darkness.
You were blinded in a sudden car accident, but here’s the strange thing – you have almost no memory of what happened. Your doctor tells you that this could be psychological amnesia, where your brain refuses to recall the trauma.
But you never felt right.
–Was it really just a car accident that night?
All you have in your head are bits and pieces of sound clips:
“Boom-” The sound of glass shattering.
“Someone’s chasing me ……” whispered a gasp to himself.
“He knows too much.” A muffled, low voice.
You have to get to the bottom of this.
Why are you blind?
You don’t believe it was just a simple car accident.
You began to “remember” the night with your voice.
Thread: Final Project
You were doing a documentary on **”Urban Secrets “** before you went blind, investigating some truths that have been covered up.
You start to remember, when was the last time you recorded yourself? What exactly did you hear that you shouldn’t have?
But all the hard drives, the backups about the project have disappeared.
Closing in on the truth.
You decide to explore the city using echolocation to find lost memories.
Your world goes completely dark, and you can’t read documents, view security footage, or even distinguish the expressions on your friends’ faces.
But you have a voice.
You rely on tapping on objects, echoing footsteps, and air vibrations to find a hidden clue – the
The scene of your crash, not on the road, but in a remote underground parking lot.
That means – you weren’t hit by a car, you were “brought” there and faked an accident.
The ultimate truth: what did you find out?
You finally piece together your memories of that night:
You went to interview a person with knowledge of the situation that night, who had been the head of security for a real estate company. This company was planning a major illegal transaction involving government corruption and land fraud, and you videotaped him giving evidence.
But you’re being watched.
You had just left the interview location when you were stopped by several men who grabbed your recording equipment and knocked you out.
They were going to kill you, but someone changed their mind.
So they erased your memory and used some kind of drug to destroy your optic nerves, making you completely “blind” to the truth.
You go back to that parking lot and rely on your sense of hearing to find an old tape recorder abandoned in a hidden corner.
You press play–
On the recording, it’s the voice of the person who knows.
“…… They’ve been fiddling, rigging bids and deceiving the public.”
“…… If anyone finds out, they’ll ……”
(Bang! Gunshot, recording interrupted.)
Features & Mechanisms
Real Echolocation Play
Instead of visualization, the player must perceive the environment through acoustic feedback
For example, if the phone rings, the player needs to find the location of the phone through spatial audio and answer the call
3D Sound & Blind Discovery
You have to rely on the ambient sounds to judge the plot
People, vehicles, and obstacles on the street.
Your “eyes” have been taken away, and you have to rely on your voice to explore the world.
Game Prototype Reference – Blind
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gW411S7oU/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click&vd_source= 658ddde8f91039166ca842a8608ea290
https://store.steampowered.com/app/406860/Blind/#app_reviews_hash
The Second One(From JIngwen Deng)
Game Title: Darkness
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
Perspective: First-Person
Gameplay: Puzzle-solving, Survival
Number of Players: 1
Game Story:
In Darkness, the player takes on the role of a cat named Buster. At the start of the game, Buster finds itself trapped in a dark, misty maze, having lost its sight (or retained only minimal vision, able to see the fog and some nearby objects, but primarily relying on sound to complete tasks) and memory. The goal is to escape the dark mist. As the game progresses, the player follows sounds from different directions and gradually uncovers fragments of memory, eventually finding a way out of the mist.
Game Background:
Buster is a cat with special abilities. It has completed many tasks with a girl named Betty, guiding her to grow independent and courageous. In order to help Betty gain more courage, Buster sets up a series of dark, mist-filled challenges to test her. Buster temporarily erases Betty’s memory and swaps identities with her, allowing the player to complete the tasks from the cat’s perspective. Gradually, Betty regains her sense of identity and with Buster’s guidance, completes the challenges.
Gameplay Mechanics:
- Auditory-driven: Due to the lack of vision, the game design emphasizes sound as the primary means of interaction. There is a small, limited visual interface in the game, but most of the world is shrouded in mist. Most of the interactions and information gathering rely on sound. The player will hear footsteps, environmental sounds, object collisions, and voices from other characters.
- Stereo and Directional Sound: To enhance immersion, the game uses stereo and directional sound, allowing the player to accurately judge the position of their surroundings and objects. For example, the player can use the sound of footsteps in the distance to determine when enemies are approaching and hide, or follow sound cues to find hidden paths and items.
- Fragment Collection Example: During exploration, when collecting fragments, there will be special auditory cues that appear intermittently.
Main Objective:
Collect the fragments, uncover your memories, and escape the mist.
Side Objectives:
Avoid footsteps and dangerous objects.
Reference game link: The Vale Part 2
The Third One(from Fan Lin)
Game Project Overview
Game Genre: Puzzle, Casual Game
Game Story: A small creature named NN has lived in this vast labyrinth world for as long as he can remember. This garden-like world holds all his cherished memories and friendships. However, his friend MM has recently experienced a series of strange occurrences—
MM notices that the garden emits peculiar sounds:
- On bright and windless days, he hears the sound of ocean waves.
- At night, he hears the chirping of birds that should only be present at dawn.
- When recalling the same event with NN, their memories do not align in terms oflocation and environment.MM gradually realizes that this world may not be complete. He begins to question whether the place he lives in is real or merely an illusion. Using his extraordinary hearing and memory, he starts exploring beyond the labyrinth, searching for the unknown truth.Meanwhile, NN is fully immersed in the world he sees. He loves painting and firmly believes in the reality of his visual perception. He constantly illustrates what he sees and shares it with MM, hoping that MM will stay and not leave.In this labyrinth where reality and illusion intertwine, the perspectives of two friends clash. How will they resolve their differences? Where will the truth lead them?
Concept References:
- Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
- The Matrix
- InterstellarCharacter Design References:
- NN: Loves painting, trusts what he sees, and fully believes in reality.
- MM: Possesses extraordinary hearing, sharp intuition, and a strong desire to uncover the truth.
- Gameplay Mechanics:
• NN and MM perceive completely different worlds.
o NN sees a complex 3D world, but the intricate environment makes it difficult
for him to determine the direction of sounds.
o MM sees a 2D plane, with extraordinary hearing that allows him to perceive
sounds beyond his visible surroundings and use imagination to piece together
the world’s structure.
• Players will play as NN and MM, utilizing NN’s visual information and MM’s
auditory perception to solve the labyrinth’s mysteries.
o NN provides visual clues and describes the world’s structure. o MM relies on sound cues to explore hidden pathways.
Map References:
- The labyrinth features both beautiful garden landscapes and structurally inconsistent, chaotic areas.
- There may be “rifts” or “boundaries” where MM can perceive the world’s inconsistencies.
- The exit of the labyrinth is a final puzzle that requires combining visual and auditory clues to unlock.
- Core Gameplay Mechanics:
- Dual Perspective : Players can experience different views between NN (3D vision) and MM (2D auditory perception).
- Environmental Interaction Puzzles: NN records visual details through painting, while MM analyzes the environment through sound to uncover hidden truths.
- Branching Narrative Choices: Players’ decisions affect the trust between NN and MM, shaping the story’s outcome.
Possible Endings:
- NN convinces MM to stay in the labyrinth and accept this world.
- MM convinces NN to leave the labyrinth and face the outside truth.
- They go separate ways, with NN staying and MM leaving, resulting in a changein the world.This journey explores the theme of faith vs. doubt, guiding players to reflect on the question: “Is the world we perceive real, or merely an illusion?”
After discussion, we finally chose the third one as the game’s setting for our group.
